Charlotte, NC (LifeNews.com) — A national pro-life group for college students has uncovered new information revealing that college students who attend public universities in North Carolina will be forced to pay for abortions via their required student health care plan.

Students for Life of America has discovered that the North Carolina Board of Governors will require all students enrolled in a University of North Carolina public institution, starting with the 2010-2011 school year, to have health insurance.

Students who do not already have private health insurance are required to buy a state selected policy from Pearce & Pearce, Inc.

This mandated policy, SFLA told LifeNews.com this morning, covers up to $500 toward elective abortions and has 80% PPO coverage for elective abortions.

The Pearce & Pearce policy costs students $744 per year or $375 per semester and the State of North Carolina will not be paying into the policy. Instead, students who are required to purchase the insurance will be required to pay the entire cost — part of which will go towards the payment of abortions for fellow students.

Kristan Hawkins, the executive director of Students for Life of America, told LifeNews.com, she is disturbed to see how North Carolina students will be forced to pay for elective abortions, regardless of their personal views on the issue.

"The fact that North Carolina students are going to be forced to pay for elective abortions is appalling. Students should not be put in a situation like this in order to attend an educational institution," she told LifeNews.com.

"We demand that the North Carolina Board of Governors reverse their policy and remove the abortion mandate immediately. Paying for abortions should not be a pre-requisite to learning," Hawkins added.

Sarah Hardin, the president of the Students for Life campus pro-life club at North Carolina State University, was shocked at the news.

"When I learned a week ago that this mandatory health coverage included the coverage of an elective abortion, I was dumbfounded," she said. "As a pro-life student at NC State, I am dismayed that my classmates will not only be forced to purchase health insurance, but will also be forced to pay into a pool that will go to aborting the children of other North Carolina students."

Responding to the information it uncovered, SFLA has set up a new web site at www.noabortioninhealthcare.com dedicated to raising public awareness about the forced abortion payments. North Carolina residents, and others, can sign a petition opposing the policy and can send an email to the Chairman of the North Carolina Board of Governors, Hannah Gage, with the same message.